Theft and Pet Ownership

It has been a most exciting week in our household, we have two new family members. We have two new pets. My nieces also have a new pet. They have a new, bouncy puppy with floppy ears and a waggly tail and an awful lot of energy. We have caterpillars. Two caterpillars. Their names are Squiggles and Tayla. I stole them off my nieces when they weren't home. I am a terrible Aunty.

I've touched before on the problems of caterpillar ownership. Having planted swan plants a few weeks ago in spite of my apprehension, no butterflies have seen fit to lay eggs on our plants. The Rabbit's excitement was waning and the plants, ever since she got her rabbity little paws on them, have been struggling too. The swan plants at my sister's house, however, have been a hive of activity. For weeks they have had eggs, caterpillars and butterflies. We have had none.

The theft happened when the Rabbit and I called in to meet our new niece and cousin, the dog, and take her for a walk. The kids were away with their Dad and my sister was at work. The puppy is a handful, she exhausted us both, despite her cuteness. As we were about to leave the Rabbit noticed the caterpillars. There were four small ones and one dying larger one. As the Rabbit stamped her foot and said "but why don't we have caterpillars" I noticed the condition of the swan plants. All three plants were looking well and truly nibbled upon. The leaves were few, the caterpillars plenty. I decided to indulge my grizzly daughter and steal from my wee nieces. Of course I justified my decision.

Clearly I needed to save the lives of some caterpillars and save my sister some money. I knew the mental anguish that a caterpillar owner goes through in the mad hunting down of additional food sources for their pets to avoid the heartbreak of the children. I have before joined the queues of mothers grabbing swan plants at ever increasing prices to avoid the mass starvation of disastrous proportions. I knew my nieces and sister were preoccupied with the puppy dog. A puppydog that would probably savage the caterpillars. I knew my daughter wanted caterpillars. As only a terrible Aunty and an even worse mother would do, I picked a couple of caterpillars off their plants and I demonstrated stealing to the Rabbit.

Unsurprisingly my daughter embraced her new life of crime. She certainly didn't defend her cousins' property rights. Her excitement wiped out most of the guilt I had. "I've ALWAYS wanted to own caterpillars" she gushed "and now I do." "And they're so, so cute". And a lot less trouble than a puppy I thought to myself. Or are they?

The problem with five year olds and pets, particularly caterpillar pets, is that it is difficult to balance showing love and affection with squashing them to death. Keeping the Rabbit's enthusiasm for Squiggles and Tayla from ending in carnage is not so easy. It has taken many stern words for the game of moving them from plant to plant and dropping them to stop. "But I LOVE them" only excuses so much. Not only that, due to the precarious existence of our swan plants, it is of huge concern that the plants will not last long enough for Tayla and Squiggles to make it to butterflyhood. Not because of the caterpillar's appetites, but because of the Rabbit's involvement with the planting. The plants seem to be dying from the roots up. I am having to be very attentive in my watering. Pet ownership is riddled with anxiety.

I am hoping that Squiggles and Tayla survive long enough to be able to make a flapping escape from our home. And hopefully they stay clear of the vegetable garden of death (200 snails in less than three weeks have met a grizzly end). Hopefully my little daughter enjoys watching the cycle of life as much as she has always anticipated she would. And hopefully my nieces are way too busy with their puppy to notice that they have a most terrible, and despicable, bad example setting Aunt!